


you're about to bloom

by lethargicProfessor



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Kanda owns a nursery with Alma, Tim is a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 15:17:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20342272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lethargicProfessor/pseuds/lethargicProfessor
Summary: It started with the cat, as it usually did.-Allen, Kanda, Alma, and the plant nursery. Also, Tim.previously “Golden Flowers”





	you're about to bloom

**Author's Note:**

> This work is not to be reproduced or reposted on any site or app other than Archive of Our Own, Tumblr, and WordPress (LPWrites/LethargicProfessor). This work is available for free on these sites, and is ** not to be used or sold for profit by any third parties or apps. **

It started with the cat, as it usually did.

Allen really should have known better by now, because he knew Tim was an outdoor cat and therefore liked being outside. Still, the news that someone had been going around stealing pets around the neighborhood made him paranoid enough to lure Tim inside.

Tim didn’t like that in the slightest, yowling pitifully and staring Allen down until he saw his chance and booked it through a crack in a poorly-latched window.

Now, he cared for Tim very much, but it was important to note that while Tim lived with him for the most part, Tim was not his cat. Tim belonged to his uncle, and if something happened to Tim while in Allen’s care, his uncle would erase him from existence. Or so he had promised. Allen didn’t want to put it to the test.

So, armed with a flashlight, a picture of Tim, and grim determination, Allen set off to hunt the cat down.

He systematically searched through his neighborhood, knocking on doors, climbing up an absurd amount of stairs just to be thorough, but came up with absolutely nothing. Crossing out the immediate vicinity, Allen expanded his search outwards, hoping that nothing bad had happened to the cat.

He paused his search long enough to call a couple of shelters on the off-chance they had taken Tim, but the description of a golden tabby with a white patch on his chest left him with no cat and a massive headache.

Allen was already planning his speech to Cross when he walked past a nursery, a little patch of green in the otherwise drab gray city. Curious, he peeked in through the chain-link fence, choking on his spit as he spotted a very fat, very yellow cat amidst the greenery.

“Shit.” Allen looked around, trying to find a way in. The door to the building was locked, as was the gate into the nursery. From what he could tell, they wouldn’t be open until ten the next day. If he waited, Timcanpy would be long gone.

“Shit,” he sighed again, rolling his sleeves up. Hopefully no one called the cops on him. He didn’t want to lose the cat and spend the night in holding again.

Taking a running start, Allen gripped the chain-link fence and hauled himself over it, landing with a dull thump on the other side. Timcanpy raised his head lazily but did nothing, curled up in a potted plant.

“Here, Tim….Here, kitty….” Allen began picking his way through the plants, crouching low to avoid scaring Tim off. He was not about to set off on another wild goose chase around the city. “Come on, you little shit…”

He was doing his best to be careful, squeezing between tables and rows of pots, the colors still vibrant in the evening light. In any other situation, he would have thought it was a lovely place; he could see all sorts of shrubs and little trees, and a set of tiny greenhouses set against the far wall.

He was a man on a mission, however, and stalked through the plants with his eyes on the cat. Timcanpy rolled over, tail flicking lazily, and purred. His hind legs were half hanging off the plant, but he didn’t seem to mind, content to just….lie there.

Allen reached him, breathing heavily from his trek through the plant trenches, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “I’m taking you home, you brat.”

Tim merely purred, obnoxiously loud in the quiet nursery. There were bits of green around his nose and mouth, and Allen watched him bat at the plant above him lazily. Sighing, he knelt down, dragging the cat out from under the plant with a grunt. “Christ, Tim…”

Tim didn’t answer, dangling limply from Allen’s hands, purring like a motorboat. Strange. ”What the fuck did you do?”

“Your cat is fucking stoned.”

Allen would like to say he didn’t scream, trapped as he was trespassing with a big, fat yellow cat in his hands, but that would be a lie.

The person leaning on the door stared at him, utterly unimpressed with everything he was seeing. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t seem mad, exactly, despite the situation, though Allen thought he might have been too pretty to show any emotion other than disgusted condescension. Even though the light was quickly fading, Allen must have looked a sight, covered in dirt with his shirt half off his shoulder from his climb over the fence. Not a great first impression.

“Um…” Allen glanced down at Tim, who purred, and then back at the man. “Well…you see…my cat ran in here, and…”

“And ate my plants, yeah. I noticed.” The pretty man crossed his arms, and his mouth twisted into something that might have been amusement if not for the furrow in his brows. “You’re paying for that, by the way.”

Allen groaned, tucking Tim under his arm to pat at his pockets. They were empty, as he suspected. “I don’t have my wallet on me.”

The smirk the guy shot him was nothing short of evil. “Guess I’m calling the cops, then.”

“No!” Allen stumbled forward, holding a hand out to stop the other man before he could turn back inside, struggling to keep Tim in his grasp. “Wait, wait! Please don’t call the cops!”

“Why not?” The smug bastard stepped away from him and into the doorway, thoroughly enjoying himself. “It’s stealing and trespassing on private property already.”

“Please don’t.” Allen squeezed Tim to his chest, scrambling to find a way out of things. He could not get anything on his record again. “Um….”

Tim gave a small, disgruntled mrew in response to the increase in pressure, wiggling in Allen’s grip. “Look, I need to take the cat home, but I swear on my uncle’s life that I’ll come back, and…uh. I’ll work for free! Until I pay off whatever damage Tim made.”

“How do I know you’ll come back?” The guy was leaning back on the door now, frowning.

“Well, you’re blocking the only way out, so I kind of can’t leave anyways if you don’t let me.” Allen pointed out, sighing. “Look…My name is Allen Walker, I live down on 14th Street. If I’m not here tomorrow morning, then by all means, come hunt me down.”

The pretty man rolled his eyes, shoving the door open, and pointed to the glass doors across the room. “Be here at nine sharp or I’ll kick your ass.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Tucking Tim under his arm like a football, Allen booked it out of the nursery and straight home. Definitely not a great first impression, but he’d had worse before.

* * *

Allen kept his word, unfortunately, arriving with five minutes to spare, his eyes burning from exhaustion. If it hadn’t been for Tim, he would have gotten a chance to sleep in before heading in to his actual job.

Instead, he stood in front of the nursery, the doors locked and the shop empty, wondering if maybe it was all a trick. A hallucination caused by excessive catnip to the face. Allen scratched at the joint at his shoulder and wondered what it said about him, conjuring a grumpy handsome fey man in a nursery demanding he work for free. 

“Good morning!” A voice called, far too chipper to not be caffeinated. Allen blinked as a person with short black hair slipped past him, backpack slipping off their shoulders as they fumbled a set of keys. “Sorry, give me a second!”

“It’s alright,” Allen said, bemused, reaching out to help when their backpack slipped to the crook of their elbow and caused the keys to fall. “I’m not in a rush.”

“You’d think we would have things handled by now,” the other person grinned, and the scar across their nose stretched with the motion. “Were you here to pick up something?”

Allen shook his head, holding their backpack awkwardly as they finally unlocked the door. “No, uh. The guy with long hair said I had to come work off the catnip my cat ate.”

“Oh,” they said in a knowing tone of voice. “You’re the kid Yuu was complaining about last night.” Their laugh echoed as they stepped into the nursery, fluorescent lights slowly flicking on. 

“I’m the one who should be complaining,” Allen muttered under his breath, but followed as they flit around the store.

It was nice, plants hanging from the ceiling and set neatly in rows on tables and shelves. A cluster of succulents took over one third of the main check out counter, little paper banners labeling what each plant was. 

“I’m Alma, by the way!” They called as they finished their rounds, hand out towards Allen. He shook it slowly, finding himself smiling in return. Their smile was infectious. 

“Allen. I really am sorry about the cat.” Alma squeezed his hand and laughed, motioning Allen to follow to the back office. 

“It happens. There’s a lot of strays around, so I keep telling Yuu to bring it inside but he’s stubborn.” Alma clapped their hands twice, looking around the shop thoughtfully. “Anyways, if you have to go, it’s no big deal. I don’t think Yuu thought you’d actually come.”

“Unfortunately, I tend to keep my promises.” It prickled, that the pretty fey man – Yuu, apparently – had decided to just fuck with him, and even though he was basically given a chance to leave, Allen found that maybe he was just gonna stick around out of spite.

That would show him. Allen nodded at Alma expectantly, holding his hands out. “So. Plants?”

Alma bit back a laugh, covering their mouth politely, and pointed to the back, towards a little office that was obscured behind a large elephant ear plant. “If you’re gonna stick around, let me get you to fill out some forms, okay? Just liabilities and stuff.”

“Is it going to annoy Yuu if I stay?” Allen asked, following Alma to the back.

“Oh, absolutely.”

“Perfect. I’d love to stay and work.”

* * *

Alma was correct; Kanda (Not Yuu, not to his face at least) was livid when he saw Allen working cheerfully at the check out, bantering about plants he only had a passing knowledge of with a couple of regulars.

The customers seemed to enjoy it, at the very least, and Allen felt a sense of satisfaction he rarely had during his real job as the customers tittered and walked out with two orchids and a tiny cactus in a red pot.

“Good morning,” Allen called out in his best customer service voice, smirking at the scrunched up look Kanda shot him. It was a shame that even then was kind of pretty, but at least it was _different_.

“Allen’s been great,” Alma effused when they walked over to greet Yuu, smile blinding. “He might actually last if we keep him around.”

“Please keep me around.” Allen clasped his hands in front of him and gave the two the sweetest look he could muster. “I would kill to just sit around and water flowers all day.”

“That’s not all we do,” Kanda ground out, crossing his arms. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“I work at the mall. This? This is heaven compared to clothing retail hell.” Allen mock-shuddered, leaning his elbows on the counter. “Besides, I said I’d make up for Tim eating your plants.”

Kanda rolled his eyes, looking up at the ceiling in despair before glancing down at Alma, who nodded eagerly. “You know we need the help.”

“Not from him.”

Alma pouted, and Allen was glad it wasn’t directed at him. It was _powerful_. “You scare everyone off, Yuu. We’re lucky they haven’t tanked our ratings online.”

They shared another look, almost like they were communicating telepathically, before Kanda huffed and scrunched his shoulders and stomped to the back office.

Alma shot Allen a thumbs up and hurried on after him. “Welcome aboard! I’ll make sure we get everything handled for you!”

* * *

The shop was a delight, and fucking with Kanda made it all the more enjoyable. Not that Kanda didn’t also fight back, but that’s what made it _fun_.

Their sense of humor was much better than the people at his old job too, so that was a plus.

Allen sat at the checkout counter, counting the till when Alma and Kanda began stacking bags of soil and mulch onto a wooden pallet. Alma was carrying the bags in two at a time, cheerfully catching Kanda up on something that had happened over the weekend, while Kanda propped the door to the back open.

They did the trip a few more times, taking turns bringing in the bags, before Kanda noticed him watching them.

“Hey, give us a hand, asshole,” Kanda grunted, dropping another bag of mulch onto a wooden pallet.

“Sure.” Allen shoved his hand under his shirt and undid the straps for his prosthetic, flinging it at them. It was so worth it to hear the startled yelp from Kanda as the arm landed on the bag.

Alma wheezed, carefully lifting the red arm off the top of the bag before waving it in Allen’s general direction, startled giggles starting to build. “_Hewwo_?”

That broke him. Allen cackled, dropping his head back so suddenly he overbalanced and tipped off his stool. It stung, but peeking around the edge of the counter at Kanda’s face filled with regret, Alma doubled over laughing? It was totally worth it.


End file.
